I reference ESPN's Joe Lunardi a lot in this space when we get close to
Selection Sunday, as we have. That guy knows his stuff with his
bracketology projections. Here's something I never thought I would see: you
can bet on how right Lunardi will be. That he correctly predicts all 68
teams is +700 at 5Dimes.
Getting all four No. 1 seeds right, which seems fairly easy, is -290. It's
+210 if he misses at least one. That Lunardi correctly projects all the
four "at large" schools in the First Four is +1900. Right now he has Seton
Hall, TCU, Georgia Tech as Marquette for those picks. There are a few other
props on him. Go check them out.

ACC game at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN. Syracuse hasn't missed the NCAA Tournament
for a non-violation of NCAA rules since 2008, but the Orange are in
definite trouble after barely getting an at-large bid last year and then
going all the way to the Final Four. Lunardi has the Orange as among the
"last four byes" and a No. 12 seed.
They are on a three-game losing streak
following a crushing 71-65 loss at Georgia Tech on Sunday. The Orange's RPI
dropped all the way to No. 83 with the loss. Last year, they were ranked
No. 71 in the metric, the lowest ever for a team that earned an at-large
bid. In the skid, Syracuse is 22-for-82 from 3-point range. Coach Jim
Boeheim's team does have five Top-50 wins and one here would obviously be
huge. By the way, SU's Andrew White has played every minute of eight
straight games. No Syracuse player has done that since 2000-01.

Duke is a game behind North Carolina for the ACC lead. The Blue Devils
are rolling
after beating Wake Forest 99-94 on Saturday for their seventh straight
victory. Luke Kennard had 23 points for Duke and he's a top candidate for
ACC Player of the Year. Meanwhile, Jayson Tatum, probably a Top-5 NBA pick
this summer, was named ACC Freshman of the Week for a third time. He
averaged 23.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in 35.5 minutes per game. He shot
.609 (14 of 23) from the floor, .750 (9 of 12) from 3-point range and 1.000
(10-of-10) from the free-throw line. This is the only scheduled meeting
between the schools. Mike Krzyzewski (1,065) and Boeheim (1,001) are the
only coaches with 1,000 wins, although technically the NCAA stripped
Boeheim of some of those.

Key trend:
The Blue Devils are 3-8-1 against the spread in their past 12 road games.
The Orange are 7-1 ATS in their past eight at home. Duke is 3-1-1 ATS in
the past five meetings.

I'm leaning:
Syracuse.

Texas A&M at Arkansas (-4)

SEC game at 8:30 p.m. ET on the SEC Network. The Razorbacks have made just
one NCAA Tournament this decade and that was in 2015. Most reports were
that Coach Mike Anderson had to get there this year to keep his job, and I
think the Hogs are all but in
with a 20-7 record
and 9-5 mark in the SEC. When is the last time you saw a college player
score 30 points off the bench? It happened for only the fourth time in
school history for Arkansas (SEC era) in Saturday's 98-80 home win over Ole
Miss. Daryl Macon had 30 off the bench on 10-for-13 shooting. He helped the
Razorbacks to a 51-12 bench edge over the Rebels. Mason was named the SEC
Player of the Week on Monday. He has scored at least 12 points in 21 of 27
games this season, including 17 of the last 20 contests. Macon is shooting
47.1 percent from behind the arc in the last six games.

Texas A&M has regressed in a big way this year despite a stellar
freshman named Robert Williams. He'll likely be a lottery pick this summer.
Williams was named the SEC Freshman of the Week for the third time this
season on Monday. He averaged 13 points, 11 rebounds, four blocks and 2.5
assists in the two games and had his eighth double-double of the season.
His 69 blocked shots are the second-most in A&M single-season history.
In Saturday's 81-62 win over Auburn, A&M shot 31-for-45 from the field.
That's believed to be the highest percentage (68.9) ever against the
Tigers. Arkansas beat Texas A&M 62-60 on Jan. 17. Macon scored 16
points and the Hogs overcame a 12-point deficit in the second half.

Key trend:
The Aggies are 1-6 ATS in their past seven after a win. The Razorbacks are
5-2 ATS in their past seven vs. the SEC. The home team is 6-2 ATS in the
past eight meetings.

I'm leaning:
Arkansas.

No. 7 Louisville at No. 8 North Carolina (-4.5)

ACC game at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN. The Cards are tied with Duke a game behind
North Carolina. U of L will be favored
in its final three regular-season games
, so should it pull the upset here it likely will at least tie for the ACC
title. Louisville won a third straight Saturday, 94-90 over Virginia Tech.
The Hokies played about as well as possible in hitting 59.2 percent from
the field and 65.4 percent from long range. Their 90 points were a KFC Yum!
Center record for an opponent. Donovan Mitchell had 26 to lead Louisville,
which won its 1,800th all-time game. Cards freshman forward V.J.
King missed the game with a thigh bruise but should play here. He averages
6.7 points and 2.3 rebounds in about 15 minutes per game.

UNC looked as good as it has all season on Saturday in thumping No. 14
Virginia 65-41. Justin Jackson, another ACC Player of the Year candidate,
scored 20 - his 14th game with at least that many. The Heels
held the Cavaliers to the lowest point total scored by an opponent in the
Roy Williams era. The 41 points are the fewest UNC has given up to Virginia
since Jan. 21, 1947, when UNC beat the Cavaliers 63-38. UVa was 2-for-20
from long range on Saturday. North Carolina has replaced Baylor as one of
Lunardi's No. 1 seeds. Williams tied Eddie Sutton for the eighth-most wins
among Division I head coaches with 806. This is the only scheduled meeting
between Louisville and North Carolina. The Cards won last year by six at
home.

Key trend:
The Cards are 4-1-1 ATS in their past six road games. The Heels are 19-7
ATS in their past 26 at home.

Free Play from Doc's Sports.
#211 Take Akron Zips +22.5
over Florida Atlantic Owls
(Boca Raton Bowl, Tuesday,
12/19 7 pm ESPN) What a
season Lane Kiffin had at
Florida Atlanta this season.
He won 10 games to go along
with a Conference USA
Championship. But
unfortunately, Florida
Atlantic may be the end of
the line for him, as he was
not considered for a
coaching
promotion due to the bridges
he has burned in the past. I
just do not see them running
over an Akron team that is
thrilled to be in this bowl
game. Toledo is a very
similar team to Florida
Atlantic and I expect a
similar result in this game,
a 15-18 point victory for
FAU. Akron is 8-2 ATS in
their last 10 games. FAU is
2-6 ATS in their last 8
nonconference games. Do not
miss out on Doc's Sports
weekend football card
featuring bowl and pro
games.
11-2 run on NFL Top Plays so
sign-up now and let 46 years
of handicapping experience
work for you. Read MoreRead Less

One E-mail A Week Is All You Need!Our weekly newsletter is loaded with exclusive free picks,insight and advice from our expert handicappers